IHF Trophy Kosovo - Day 1 Review

Post published October 24, 2018
(Updated October 25, 2018)

Under 18 (Youth)

GB vs Kosovo 24:33 (13:19)

Our Under 18 (Youth) Men’s team lost by nine goals against hosts Kosovo earlier today, 33:24.

A difficult start to the game found GB 8:0 down, but with focus and keeping to our defensive rules and attacking situations Chris McDermott’s men found more success and impressively pulled the score back to just a three-goal deficit, 12:9.

The half finished 19:13 to the hosts though due to GB technical errors and bad decision-making, and it was a similar start to the second half as Kosovo created a +10-goal difference thanks to changes in their attacking play and a raised intensity.

“It was a difficult start to the tournament for the boys but as ever there are plenty of positives to take from today and we had some great moments individually,” said Under 18 (Youth) Team Manager Andy Clark. “We caught Kosovo off-guard and we also changed our defensive system to cause them more problems.

“When we managed to execute our plan, we had great success and that is something we can take into the rest of the competition.

“I continue to be impressed by the professionalism and team spirit showed by this group on a daily basis. I am looking forward to them showing what they are capable of on an international stage.”

Under 20 (Junior)

GB vs Kosovo 17:38 (6:21)

It was a double loss against hosts Kosovo for GB today in Pristina as the Men’s U20 (Junior) side lost by 21 in the late evening match.

At the half, GB were already 15 down (21:6), but they continued to fight into the second half and ended with 17 strikes in their account thanks to goals from Adam Latter (6 goals), Oliver Sutcliffe (5), Jack Lees (4) and Jack Field (2).

“I am proud of how the boys executed our defence,” said U20 Interim Coach Bobby White after the match. “We forced Kosovo to shoot from the wings, but they took full advantage of our mistakes in attack, punishing us on the counter.

“We came back stronger in the second half and looked much more dangerous, but by then the damage was done.”